The liveliest letters from the Diver mailbag...

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It's all coming out now
I was really enjoying the August issue of your brilliant magazine until I came to the end of Confessions Of A Diving Instructor and read: "Do any other instructors have guilty secrets?" I felt my face flush and my heart pound. "Want to make a clean breast of it?" Go for it, Nic, I said to myself.
I've always felt guilty every time I think about Joe's 50th birthday surprise. While working in Malta I took Joe, a jolly Irishman from Sligo, for an introductory five-dive package. Straight away I could tell he wasn't keen, just keeping up a macho image for the wife, who had treated him to the package following endless boasts about his "frogman" days.
At the Marfa dive site Joe informed me that under no circumstances would he be going under water! He agreed to try snorkelling, and we spent 40 minutes watching the divers below us.
Later, over a coffee, Joe disclosed that the "Frogman" was a pub he'd frequented in his youth. So as not to disappoint his wife, he hatched a plan. He would enthuse about his wonderful time, what he'd seen and done. It wasn't lying, just twisting the truth, he said, and he'd slip me five Maltese pounds each time to keep me quiet!
At the end of Joe's "diving" sessions ( I felt confident calling them this due to his kamikaze duck-diving attempts) with me 40 richer, I was sorry to see them leave. Then his wife returned and told me excitedly about her plans for Joe's 50th birthday present - a complete set of dive kit and enrolment on the Novice course! What could I say?
I've neither seen nor heard from them again, thank goodness. But I must admit, I would love to have been a fly on the wall when Joe received his birthday present!
Nicola Coates, Tenby

Two sides to the A-flag question
I have followed the remarks about racing yachtsmen and divers with some interest (Sailing Menace, Off-Gassing, September), as I am sure I cannot be the only reader who dives and sails. I do most of my sailing with the Ocean Youth Trust, so am inclined more towards safe sailing and cruising than racing.
It is rather thoughtless to run a race round a navigational mark in an area like the site of the James Eagan Layne off Plymouth, particularly if the sailors are locals, who might be expected to know that the wreck is frequently dived. In any case, being involved in a race is no excuse for unsound seamanship and failure to take proper action to avoid the risk of collision.
On the other side of the coin, the A-flag is often misused . According to the International Regulations for Prevention of Collisions at Sea, it is a signal to be used by small boats which cannot display the full signals for a vessel carrying out underwater operations. It should be a rigid replica of code flag A, not less than 1m on a side, steps being taken to ensure its all-round visibility - something I have yet to come across in several years' diving.
Some years ago in the mouth of Falmouth harbour I was in a small boat, working my way through the moorings, when I found myself being vigorously "waved" at by the crew of a fishing vessel on one of the moorings. A diver's head appeared alongside the boat just as the first gust of morning breeze revealed that the dirty cloth in their rigging was in fact an A-flag.
As with many problems at sea, there is a need both to obey the rules which have grown up over many years, and practise good seamanship and courtesy to other users of the sea.
John Parkin, Birmingham

Insurance for the independent
I was very interested in John Bantin's Deep Breath (Clubbing For The Independent, August). I belong to a BSAC club as an instructor and also an independent club which does not teach - all its members are PADI or BSAC qualified.
This works well for me, but the independent club has a problem in that we cannot get diver/diver and third party insurance cover. This means we have not been able to book any local pools for practice or swimming, and we have to get insurance individually (Diver covered the problems with that last year).
I am told that underwriters will not even offer insurance if the club is not affiliated - have you heard of any that do?
Fran Lloyd, West Bridgford, Notts

Editor's reply: We asked Bill Caldwell of Westfield, the long-established diving insurance broker, about this. "Unaffiliated clubs can get around the problem but members must be prepared to pay to do so," he says. His company offers individual divers 1m public liability cover as part of a package with its equipment and personal accident/death policies. So long as all the members of the club are insured in this way, Westfield could supply an umbrella policy that should satisfy a municipal pool's requirements.

The weedy & the leafy
After reading Gavin Anderson's story on Jervis Bay (The Weird & The Wonderful, May) I must make a small correction. The weedy sea dragon is actually known as Phyllopterix taeniolatus, and the one Mr Anderson refers to is found along the coast from Victoria to South-western Australia. Phycodurus eques is actually a leafy sea dragon. Sadly, many Australian divers mix up the names.
Besides this small glitch, his account was great to read, as I have visited the place many times. You can find out more by visiting www.austmus.gov.au/fish/focus/seadrag.htm
Akos Lumnitzer, Sydney, Australia

Moving account
After reading your September magazine from cover to cover on its first day in circulation, I must congratulate you on a job well done. The only criticism is that it just isn't long enough!
The reason I am writing is that I was so moved by the courage it must have taken Ian Hadfield to repeat what must have been the worst time of his life to your audience (What Happened To My Son?). I wanted to express my admiration to somebody who is still thinking of continuing his diving career, especially after this dreadful incident. I only hope - and I am sure that they will be - that his diving colleagues will be very supportive of him when he decides to enter the water again.
Mike Joseph, Thurnham, Kent

It's that gnome again
Yes, we've been gnomed! It happened on the James Eagan Layne late in June. My buddy and I were fighting our way round the bow against a flood spring tide when I noticed her lagging behind. I turned to see explosions of bubbles coming from her. At first I thought she was out of breath, but then she pointed out over the sand and there, seemingly racing the Layne, was a gnome on a snail giving it stick!
I also burst into laughter, and clouds of bubbles rose from us as the battle with the current was lost and then forgotten.
Back on the boat, as we related the story, one of our new club divers turned to his buddy and said: "See, I wasn't narked!" The gnome was gone a week later, so he must have won his race. I wonder where he'll turn up next?
Paul Bradshaw, Plymouth Sound BSAC, Plymouth

What we want is accidental sinkings
What's this? Someone is trying to organise the sinking of a ship off Plymouth Sound? (Holding the Fort, August). We in the UK are among the best wreck-divers in the world, and have some excellent wrecks scattered around our coast. Surely, if a diver has exhausted those in his particular area, he can jump in the car and dive elsewhere.
Leave the deliberate sinking of hollowed-out wrecks to the warmwater fraternity. Coral and fish life will quickly colonise it and make it worth the visit. Our wrecks have made their way to the bottom because of weather, war, sabotage, navigation error and downright carelessness. Let's keep it that way!
If folk want new wrecks, perhaps we should start a campaign to invite careless skippers to cruise along our coast en route to their cargo destination, in the hope that one will accidentally sink. What a wreck-diver wants is the ship in its entirety.
Gavin "Narwhal" Moran, Ashford, Middx

Computers in cold water
I read with interest your computer comparison test (Does Your Computer Run At Your Speed?, June). It appears to be the least biased computer test I've seen in a long time. Well done!
My only question is, at what temperature was the water during the testing? I see that the Cochran product was more liberal than the others, but it does become progressively more conservative starting at 24°C. How much, if at all, would that affect the outcome of the test?
Don Alan Ruschak, Charleroi, PA, USA

Editor's reply: The temperature was 23°C at 25m, and got colder at greater depth.

Keeping up the watertime
Duncan Byrne's letter (August) states that PADI Open Water and BSAC Club/Ocean Diver courses are practically the same, so "quickie" courses should not be knocked. Having spent six years running a dive centre catering for qualified divers I can say emphatically that the best we get come from a club background such as BSAC, VDST (German) or PADI divers who dive regularly with the centre that trained them (again usually from the UK or Germany).
The divers who did "quickie" courses in a warmwater environment and have not continued with their training, usually diving once a year or every two years on holiday, are our worst nightmare. Not only have many of them forgotten the skills they were taught, but I wonder if some ever mastered them.
I'd love to have words with the instructors who certified some of my customers, never mind that they are allowed to go diving with a diver of the same grade (yes, I do mean PADI).
And before irate PADI centres say I should offer "Scuba Tune-up" or something similar, many of these people take exception to the fact that I insist they do a check dive, adamant that they want to go diving, not do another course.
Clubs generally are about learning how to dive correctly in a good social atmosphere. I accept that the system can be long and tedious, with a high drop-out rate, but I believe most club instructors will pass pupils only once they have shown themselves to be competent in the water.
Most instructors doing warmwater "quickie" courses work on commission and are under pressure to process as many students as they can, even if this means having large groups. I'm not saying every school is like this, but I know this to be the case.
It's time schools cleaned up their act, or else I would like to see some sort of system like amateur pilots have: prove you have done so many hours of "watertime" in a year, or the qualification is revoked.
Liz Chapman, Odyssey Divers, Corfu

An even earlier rebreather
Without wishing to diminish the diving feats of Henry Fleuss and Alexander Lambert in the flooded Severn Tunnel (The Strongman, the Rebreather and the Tunnel, September), it now seems that they were not using the "first rebreather". A recent issue of the US-based Historical Diver carried an article showing that a rebreather (pure oxygen, absorbent chemical etc) was used for a one-and-a-half-hour dive in the River Seine on 4 June, 1853. Apparently this was the culmination of a month of successful experiments carried out on behalf of the Minister of Marine.
The invention of a Parisian chemist, Pierre Amable de Saint Sicard, who had already patented the design in 1852, no more is heard of it after what was a trial dive in front of a very large crowd. Fleuss's gear was used repeatedly and modified, which probably leaves it with the title of first "operational" rebreather. We should also accept that future research might well uncover rebreathers used even earlier than Sicard's.
Peter Dick, London

Amanda, you're not alone
How can a magazine which proclaims to be for all divers possibly condone your reply to Amanda Cree (Lone Ranger, Off-Gassing, August)? If we can discuss the pros and cons of solo diving, then why vilify and insult a reader and fellow-diver who wants to do just that?
Certainly her comments about "British bargain-basement beginners" and "a blue lamp for a brain" are close to the bone, but are they justified? It has obviously been her experience. I read out your reply to other divers in our club and they all agreed that it was uncalled-for and way below the high standard we expect from your magazine.
With so many people in the sport, let's stick together, not resort to personal attacks.
Shane Egan, Eire

Cover impact
The August cover of Diver is stunning. The 3D effect of the turtle, Norman Tebbit and the titles catches my eye whenever I see it. National Geographic magazine has come through my letterbox for 25 years, and even though its photos are some of the best, this cover rates right up there. Keep up the good work.
Todd Tifft, Maidenhead, Berks

Still going spare
Following on from John Liddiard's comments (Going Spare On Parts, Deep Breath, July) I had four demand valves serviced some time ago, all with octopus rigs, and they were returned in time for a trip to Scotland. During the trip and while under water the second stage of my regulator detached itself from the inner stage hose. Back on the surface I checked the other valves and found all eight second stages to be loose.
Since then I have preferred to service my own equipment but recently it has become almost impossible to obtain components through the diving industry.
I have asked the length and breadth of the country for various servicing kits and have met with a few standard replies, the most common being: "The HSE will not allow us to sell them." The HSE denies this, and points out that the duty of care is being misconstrued. Only four establishments have given, in my opinion, an honest answer: "We don't sell servicing kits because we service valves ourselves."
Are we as customers prepared to accept this attitude or is it time an independent investigation was held? Is the industry capable of giving the consumer a fair deal?
D Igo, Whitchurch, Shropshire

Oldies would show young divers up
The British Sub-Aqua Club has plenty of problems at the moment, but another which it must address soon is the annual repeat medical for the over-50s. There is little evidence that these serve any purpose. An expensive medical every year is a strong deterrent to continued membership and the BSAC stands to lose many of its oldest and most loyal members unless it rethinks its policy.
A study of the diving incident reports shows no evidence that this group is any more likely to be involved in health-related incidents. Some might say this is evidence that the annual medical requirement is doing its job, but what emerges is that medicals, other than on initial entry, have no effect whatsoever on the overall incident rate.
An annual check of physical fitness for everyone would probably have far greater impact on reducing incident rates but it might well be embarrassing for the 20-, 30- and 40-somethings who form the bulk of the membership to discover that the "senior citizens" are just as fit, or even fitter, than they are.
The sooner a proper study is begun the better, but in the meantime I call on the new National Diving Officer and Committee to suspend, or at least harmonise, this requirement for repeat medicals for the over-50s.
John Ferguson, Kirkintilloch Thistle BSAC, Glasgow

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Appeared in DIVER - October 1999

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